Wednesday, May 27, 2015

A State Senator tells West Michigan Politics he was "stunned and shocked" to read about a recent Senate rule change pushed for by Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof that keeps the public and media from accessing information about their government.

"The Majority Leader's staff told me it was a routine, procedural change making it easier to conduct business," the Senator tells WMP. "I was stunned and shocked to read your article, which was confirmed by my chief of staff. I think it's a disservice to our constituents. Had I known what was happening, I would have demanded a recorded vote."

At least one other Senator said similar things, and WMP received a copy of that conversation...

Out of respect for these Senators, WMP will keep their names secret. However, an alarming trend is emerging: it seems like Senators were tricked into screwing the public and the media, they did it with an unrecorded vote, and now the media refuses to cover it for who in the hell knows what reason...

What happened? Brian Dickerson of the Detroit Free Press described things this way:

"Sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof, R-West Olive, and adopted by a voice vote April 28, Senate Resolution 43
deleted a provision in the Senate's internal rules that had required it
to respond to public requests for information within 15 days and
substantially reduced the scope of documents the Senate is required to
make public.

Under the revised disclosure rules, state senators
may refuse to provide records of their official Internet use or "any
other document or record protected from public disclosure by agreement,
contract, Senate rule or law," which would seem to exempt just about
anything a senator doesn't want voters to see."